The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has disclosed that the agency will soon begin the production of Covid-19 vaccines.
She said NAFDAC is currently undergoing an audit by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to approve the production of vaccines in the country
Adeyeye made the disclosure at the maiden interaction with stakeholders organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to her, NAFDAC supervises 165 pharmaceutical industries, over 45,000 food manufacturing industries and over 5000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) industries.
The DG, who was represented by the Director Planning Research and Statistics, NAFDAC, Mrs Fori Tatama, said the agency was upping the ante on health, safety and environment with the WHO because the Heath body is carrying out an audit of NAFDAC, which will enable the country to start manufacturing vaccines.
“The programme started on Monday and will last till Friday.”
At the session, the Ministry of Labour and Employment called for the quick passage of the Operational Safety and Health Bill to ensure proper regulation of safety in workplaces across the country,” she said.
Director, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Mrs Lauretta Adogu, said “The Bill will seek to make comprehensive provision for operational health and safety in work and other matters. It will also seek to establish a national council for occupational safety and health.
“It addresses several important issues and widens the scope of legislation as the new act will apply to all workplaces because we enforce operational safety and health in Nigeria.”
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), also at the meeting, said most accidents in gas stations and filling stations happen where such stations are not licensed by it.
The Head, Safety and Environment of the DPR, Adeniyi Balogun, said, “What we have observed is that most of those accidents happen in stations that are not licensed by DPR.
“That is a big challenge for us. When we license a company, we make sure that a rigorous process is done to make sure you are qualified to do that operation. But we are doing our best in collaborating with law enforcement agencies to make sure we dismantle any such stations not licensed. The effort is ongoing.”
